The Charlotte Jewish News- October 2026- Page 19
The Seeds of Shalom Green Are Feeding Children in Winston-Salem
By Jonathan Thull
I was born and raised in Winston-Salem, but some of the most important lessons I would bring home were learned more than 70 miles away at Shalom Park in Charlotte. My journey took me around the world and, eventually, to Israel, where I became a citizen, lived on kibbutzim and first discovered the power of growing food and living in harmony with the land. At Kibbutz Lotan, an eco-community in the
Arava desert, I learned a garden could be much more than a place to grow vegetables. It could be a classroom, a gathering place, a source of food and a way to build community.
When I returned to North Carolina, I moved to Charlotte to earn my master’ s degree in clinical mental health counseling. That is where I became involved with Shalom Green. I helped facilitate gardens and birdhouse installations across Shalom Park and taught art and gardening at Temple Beth El Sunday School. I was young, full of ideas and,
admittedly, sometimes had more dreams than I knew how to turn into reality. But I was learning.
I didn’ t know then how deeply those experiences would shape what came next. Years later, I returned to Winston-Salem during COVID-19. By this time, my father’ s cancer had returned. He died during that difficult period, and afterward, I stepped into his place as a volunteer at a food pantry operated through the Jewish community in partnership with Highland Presbyterian Church. It serves families for whom hunger is not an abstract issue but part of everyday life.
One of the schools connected to that effort was Moore Magnet Elementary School, a highneed public school where 100 % of students receive free lunch. I began volunteering there and quickly saw possibilities extending far beyond a school garden. Winston-Salem / Forsyth County Schools was experiencing a serious financial crisis that had strained resources across the district. Moore needed help. But more importantly, its children deserved a school that reflected their potential, not simply the limitations of the circumstances around them.
At Moore, I began bringing together churches, synagogues, businesses, nonprofits, environmental organizations, foundations and local volunteers. We have now raised more than $ 50,000 and transformed parts of the campus into vegetable gardens, an orchard, pollinator as well as bird habitats and outdoor learning spaces.
Children help grow vegetables at school. That food makes its way to Temple Emanuel and Highland Presbyterian’ s community pantry and back to children and families at the school who need it. In short, the garden is helping feed the families it was created to serve. But this isn’ t really a story about gardens. It is about what happens when people decide children are worth investing in.
At Moore, we are working toward what we call a One School Model: the vision that an entire community can come together around one public school and demonstrate what is possible when we stop asking what a school has and start asking what a school could become. The next phase includes expanded food gardens and habitats, outdoor classrooms, STEAM learning spaces, water conservation and solar energy, potentially bringing hundreds of thousands of dollars in new resources to the campus.
That very idea has its roots in Charlotte. Years ago, I imagined Shalom Park as a campus where education and environmental stewardship were woven together, with the physical landscape itself serving as a place to learn. Its sheer size, complexity, and competing needs made some of those ideas difficult to implement all at once. At Moore, I am now seeing it all begin to take shape.
My hope is that what we are
Calling All Aspiring Writers
By Elizabeth Johnson
For writers, finding the words is only part of the challenge. Finding an audience, understanding an evolving publishing landscape and learning how to bring your work into the world can be just as daunting.
Jewish writers looking to sharpen those skills will have an opportunity to learn directly from authors, editors, publishers and marketing professionals at the 2026 Jewish Authors’ Summit, a free, fully virtual program presented by 70 Faces Media. Returning for its second year, the summit is designed to give writers practical tools to develop their craft, expand their reach and navigate the increasingly varied ways writers can connect with readers.
Over the course of the day, participants will hear from publishing professionals about a changing literary landscape and the increasingly varied routes available to writers seeking readers for their work. Programming will range from digital strategy and audience development to newer avenues for reaching readers, including newsletters and podcasting. Sessions will be offered live, with recordings available for participants who prefer to watch on their own schedule.
The program brings together voices from across the literary and publishing worlds, including bestselling author Sara Goodman Confino; Isaac Rudansky, author and founder of AdVenture Media Group; Tali Rosenblatt-Cohen, host of the Five Books podcast; Heidi Shertok, head of community engagement at Jewish Joy LLC; publisher and author Jacky Klein; and Howard Lovy, editor-in-chief of Canary Publishing.
For aspiring writers in greater Charlotte, the summit offers something particularly valuable: access to industry expertise building here can, in turn, offer something back to Charlotte and serve as a model for others. If a small school can begin transforming an entire campus, perhaps other communities can look at what is happening at Moore
without the expense or logistics of traveling to a writers’ conference. Whether the goal is publishing a first book, developing a readership, experimenting with a new platform or simply becoming more intentional about sharing one’ s voice, the program offers a place to begin.
Writing may start as a solitary pursuit, but bringing that work into the world rarely is. The Jewish Authors’ Summit offers writers an opportunity to learn from those who have navigated that path, discover new ways to reach readers and consider where their own work might lead next.
and ask what might be possible in their own schools.
Perhaps that is the most powerful thing about planting a seed is that you never really know where it will take root or what it might grow into.
Students dig into the school garden, harvesting vegetables to enjoy together and share with the community.
Applications for the 2026 Jewish Authors’ Summit are now open. To access, Google Jewish Authors’ Summit 2026 – 70 Faces Media.